Ph.D. in History

United States and Atlantic History, with tracks in the history of the United States and in the history
of the Atlantic World, and

Holocaust History and Genocide Studies, with tracks in the history of the Holocaust and in Genocide
Studies.

Both of these areas of study are augmented by instruction in non-Western areas.
The department has particular depth in women's history (European, American, and
Chinese), American diplomatic history, and Holocaust and Genocide history. Our close
ties with the American Antiquarian Society and Old Sturbridge Village in Sturbridge
are wonderful assets for graduate students studying in United States history. The
department offers a graduate internship for credit at Old Sturbridge Village.

The Clark University History Department is small, and of unusually high quality,
activity, and visibility in the field. Because of our size and activity, and because
we consider it vital to give proper mentoring and attention to each of our graduate
students, we admit only a few graduate students each year. This close mentoring
has resulted in some of our students having articles and conference papers accepted
by professional journals and organizations before they have even begun their dissertations.
At the same time, we admit a sufficient number of students to form a critical mass
for the social and intellectual fellowship vital to a healthy learning environment.
In addition, the requirement that students take some courses outside of history
enlarges the graduate community as well as the intellectual horizons of our students.

The small size of the program allows us to be flexible. Our students' programs
are individually designed, enhanced by taking individual research or readings courses
with our faculty.

Smallness has obvious disadvantages as well as advantages. We expect our applicants
to have considered our areas of specialization in their decision to apply, but in
special cases, the department does make ad hoc arrangements for access to the expertise
that it lacks, for example by arranging a directed reading with a scholar at another
institution.

Graduate course work includes reading seminars (colloquia), research seminars,
and individual tutorials for both reading and research purposes. Graduate students
may also register in upper-division undergraduate courses at a graduate level that
requires more intensive work. First- and second-year students in the doctoral program
take three courses each semester, one of which must be expressly devoted to the
production of a research paper. Faculty advisors help incoming students design their
programs, which may include courses in other departments or colleges in the Worcester
Consortium. In addition to meeting the 12-course requirement, a student who enters
without an M.A. degree usually spends at least two full-time years at Clark, must
satisfy the language requirement, teach at the college level, pass the preliminary
examination, and write a doctoral dissertation within seven years of matriculation.
(Residency for part-time Ph.D. students is defined in terms of courses taken.)